Thursday, August 29, 2013

Southeast Asian defense ministers are expected to hold fresh talks on
territorial disputes as they meet with their counterparts from elsewhere
in Asia, as well as the United States on Thursday.

The final day
of the two-day meeting is being held at a Brunei resort overlooking the
South China Sea, where several ASEAN member nations have tense
overlapping territorial claims with China.

The ASEAN Defense
Ministers' Meeting-Plus, as the gathering is known, is bringing together
ministers from the 10 ASEAN nations, the United States, China, Japan,
South Korea and other regional powers.

During Wednesday meetings
with ASEAN defense ministers, U.S. officials said Defense Secretary
Chuck Hagel discussed the need to enhance cooperation and lower tensions
in the region.

Analysts do not expect a breakthrough on the
disputes, as China has been reluctant to even discuss the issue at such
meetings. It instead prefers to deal with each rival claimant
separately, a position that gives it a much greater advantage.

A Thursday editorial in the Global Times,
China's Communist Party's official mouthpiece, said the ASEAN meeting
is not the appropriate place to resolve maritime disputes.

ASEAN
foreign ministers have been pushing for China to work towards signing a
binding Code of Conduct to help prevent conflict in the territorial
disputes.

Brunei, the Philippines, Taiwan, Vietnam and
Malaysia are embroiled in territorial disputes with China over several
resource-rich islands in the South China Sea. Japan and China are
engaged in a separate dispute in the East China Sea.

Many of the
nations accuse China of using its rapidly advancing military to more
aggressively defend what it views as its territory. Some of the nations
have expanded their defense cooperation with the United States, as a
result.

The ADMM-Plus will help lay
the groundwork for October's East Asian Summit, which will be attended
by world leaders, including U.S. President Barack Obama. The meeting is
also expected to focus on other regional and international security and
trade issues.

In a Thai village, homes are raided, property is
pinched and locals are attacked by dastardly gangs operating beyond the
law -- but the perpetrators are not men, but monkeys.

"They creep into my house when they see me sleeping, they go into the
kitchen and take cooking oil, sugar and even the medicines that I hide
in a cabinet," said Chaluay Khamkajit, after years battling with pesky
primates who are thought to have been drawn into Khlong Charoen Wai
village by habitat loss.

"They took my snacks, I can buy new ones, but the medicines are
important to me," the 72-year-old said, as she and her husband
demonstrated a variety of anti-monkey devices including a homemade lock
for the fridge and the more direct deterrent of a sling-shot.

Around 150 households in the shrimp farming community in Chachoengsao
province on the east coast, 80 kilometres (50 miles) from Bangkok, have
suffered raids by so-called "sea monkeys" -- long-tailed macaques --
for about a decade.

An increasing number of shrimp farms, coupled with the associated
deforestation, is thought to be behind a surge in monkeys venturing into
built-up areas.

"They could find food easily in the past but when there is less
forest, they have to find food in people's houses," said village headman
Chatree Kaencharoen, expressing frustration at some villagers who give
food to the incorrigible creatures.

"Sometimes, a few hundred monkeys come at once -- especially at dawn
and dusk when it is cooler. They know it is time to be fed," he said.

Conservation group WWF said people have encroached on the monkeys' habitat -- not the other way around.

"People have moved closer to nature, that is why there is an
increased chance of interaction between human and animals," WWF Thailand
director Petch Manopawitr told AFP.

"Macaques can adjust their behaviour quite well -- they learn in
similar ways as humans -- and when they know that they can find food in a
village, they come."

The spread of villages into formerly dense jungle has caused other clashes between people and beasts in Thailand.

"Wild pigs eat farm plants. But the villagers can also shoot the pigs
and eat them," said Petch, adding that elephants and tigers were a less
edible source of village disruption.
And the WWF says the problem is accelerating.

In a recent report, the conservation group said demand for farmland
could strip the Greater Mekong region -- Thailand, Cambodia, Myanmar,
Laos and Vietnam -- of a third of its remaining forest cover over the
next two decades without swift government action.

Between 1973 -- the first point of available data -- and 2009,
Thailand lost some 43 percent of its natural woodland, the WWF said,
although it praised the country for its network of national parks.

Khlong Charoen Wai's monkeys spend their days hanging out on the
narrow bamboo bridges that meander across the coastal swampland at the
edge of the village.

Mothers lounge with babies slung across their chests, while others leap between nearby mangrove trees.
They tend to flee when approached. But when nobody seems to be
looking, they climb onto roofs, leaving trails of muddy footprints as
they stalk into homes through any openings they can find.

Residents have been forced to seal their houses with nets, lock their
windows despite the tropical heat, and secure their property the best
they can.

"They pushed over a 21-inch television, which fell and smashed. They
even stole a rice cooker, managed to open it and scooped out the rice to
eat," said Chatree.

Local authorities tried to curb the monkey raids -- even attempting
to sterilise the intruders. But that effort was on too small a scale
according to deputy village head Tawin Songcharoen.
"We cannot stop them," he told AFP.

Long-tailed macaques sit on bamboo bridges in Chachoengsao province
on July 15, 2013. Marauding groups of the animals have been stealing and
attacking villagers in Khlong Charoen Wai.

Graphic fact file on long-tailed macaques. For an AFP feature on a
Thai village where around 150 households have suffered food raids from
maurauding macaques that have become accustomed to scavenging from
humans.

A long-tailed macaque strides past a village in Chachoengsao province
on July 15, 2013. The spread of villages into formely dense jungle has
caused clashes between humans and animals in Thailand.

RFAAuthorities bring military officer An Bunheng and his wife to court to face murder charges, Sept. 16, 2012. RFA

A Cambodian provincial court today dropped charges against a military
police officer and his wife accused of murdering a reporter
investigating the country’s illegal timber trade, drawing protests from
the journalist’s wife and from human rights and environmental advocacy
groups.

Hang Serei Oudom, a reporter for the Vorakchun Khmer
newspaper, had been looking into claims of illegal logging and
extortion when he went missing on Sept. 10, 2012. His battered body was
found two days later in the trunk of his car.

Military police
captain An Bunheng and his wife were taken into custody the next day
after police and a court prosecutor said they had found evidence linking
them to the crime at the couple’s restaurant in Cambodia’s northeastern
Ratanakiri province.
After questioning three witnesses and reviewing written statements
from another seven, the Ratanakiri Provincial Court dropped all charges
against the pair, citing a lack of evidence sufficient to win a
conviction against them.
Hang Serei Oudom’s last article before his death was published on
Sept. 6, 2012 and accused the son of a local military police commander
of involvement in illegal logging.
Speaking to RFA’s Khmer Service today, Hang Serei Oudom’s wife Im
Chanthy protested the court’s ruling, calling it “very unjust.”

“First
the court says it has evidence, and now they claim they don’t,” Im
Chanthy said. “Please help me. There is no law in Cambodia.”

Defense
lawyer Heng Sotheara meanwhile applauded the verdict freeing his
clients, while deputy prosecutor Chea Sopheak said he had not yet
decided whether to appeal the court’s ruling.'Influential people'

Rights groups had called for a
thorough investigation into Hang Serei Oudom’s death, noting that the
journalist had written about influential people, including businessmen
and provincial officials involved in the trafficking of luxury wood.

In
a statement Wednesday, the Club of Cambodian Journalists condemned the
court’s verdict and urged authorities to “reinvestigate the case in
order to provide justice to the victim and his family.”

The
Cambodian Center for Human Rights (CCHR) meanwhile noted that the
Ratanakiri court had refused in initial proceedings last year to examine
the link between Hang Serei Oudom’s death and his reporting on illegal
logging.

And though the court’s investigation was reopened in
April after briefly being closed, “no further evidence was collected,”
CCHR said on Wednesday.

“The Cambodian justice system has yet
again failed those who risk their lives to defend their rights and
protect the country’s rapidly vanishing forests,” the London-based
environmental advocacy group Global Witness said, calling the court’s
ruling an example of Cambodia’s “shocking culture of impunity.”

Without
the support of Cambodian authorities and the courts, “environmental
defenders like Hang Serei Oudom will continue to be killed and some of
Asia’s last remaining intact forests will be gone,” Global Witness
said.

Hanoi, Vietnam -- (SBWIRE) -- 08/28/2013 --
During the Vietnamese war American forces dropped a staggering 2
million tons of ordnance on the Southeast Asia country of Laos. This
unbelievably, adds up to more than a ton for every man, woman and child
in the country. So complete was the devastating carpet bombing, that
today, almost 40 years after the end of the war, many people, especially
children, are still being maimed as they step on unexploded mines and
bombs.

It is estimated that of the 270 million cluster bombs that landed on
Laotian soil, approximately 90 million failed to explode. Over the
decades that followed they have caused complete devastation to so many
people here in this beautiful, tranquil country. Last month Hillary
Clinton visited the country and met with the Foreign Minister Mr.
Thongloun Sisoulit and pledged that America would finally fulfil its
obligation and assist the country to get rid of the remaining lethal
weapons.

The former First Lady was taking part in a weeklong tour of Southeast Asia
to promote diplomatic relations in the region. Threatened by China’s
dominance in the world, she was trying to improve America’s
international standing in the region and gain favour from some of the
fastest growing markets in the world.

Speaking in typical US diplomatic speak she said, that together with
Laotian leaders, she had, "traced the arc of our relationship from
addressing the tragic legacies of the past to finding a way to being
partners of the future." No doubt with one eye on the general public’s
opinion of her countries military action in Iraq and Afghanistan, her
government is trying to change the perception of US actions in recent
years.

The bombs have of course had a terrible financial effect in the country,
with huge swathes of good farming land lying fallow, as the threat from
unexploded bombs is far too great to go near. These and other economic
problems were on the agenda as the leaders also discussed environmental
concerns over the possibility of building a dam on the Mekong River.
The construction of a dam is an extremely sensitive issue. The Mekong
spends most of its 3000 miles in the country. Further down stream it
passes through Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam. Any damming would have
consequences for those countries.

Visiting a prosthetic center in Laos, which is funded by the US, she
said that America had to do more. The cleanup has been painfully slow,
with only an estimated one percent of the affected areas having been
declared safe. Although the US has provided approximately $47 million
since the end of the war, much more is needed. It has pledged a further
$9 million for this year and more will follow.

This is the first visit by a United States Secretary of State for 58 years. This trip to Laos
by Hillary Clinton is seen as a very positive move as Laos, wary of
Chinese assistance, struggles to compete in the region of Indochina.
Providing assistance that would mean the dam not being built, would be a
major boost for the country’s neighbors as well of course to Laos.

Huang Huaguang, spokesman of the International Department of the CPC Central Committee, announced the visits here Thursday.

Liu, a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of
the CPC Central Committee and secretary of the Secretariat of the CPC
Central Committee, will make the visits at the invitation of the
Presidential Office of Belarus, Ukraine's Party of Regions, the Foreign
Ministry of Sri Lanka and the Cambodian People's Party and Funcinpec
Party.

Cambodia's long-time opposition leader Sam Rainsy said Thursday that a
mass protest, planned on Sept. 7, has no intention to overthrow the
current government of long-serving Prime Minister Hun Sen, but to demand
for the poll irregularity probe committee.

"The massive
nonviolent protest is not aiming to topple the government at all, but to
demand for the establishment of an independent committee to look into
alleged poll irregularities," Sam Rainsy, president of the Cambodia
National Rescue Party (CNRP), said in a press conference at the party's
headquarters.

He said it was unclear if the party would hold a mass protest only in Phnom Penh City, or throughout the country.

Rainsy
called for the ruling Cambodian People's Party (CPP) to resume
negotiations towards the establishment of a special committee for poll
irregularity investigation.

"If talks between the two parties
towards the formation of an independent poll probe committee have been
resumed, we will cancel our protest plan," he said.

In a letter
to Sam Rainsy on Thursday, Pa Socheatvong, governor of Phnom Penh City,
said that any protest must comply with the Law on Peaceful
Demonstrations and the principle in maintaining public order as stated
by laws.

"The Phnom Penh Municipality hopes that Mr.
President of the CNRP will have high spirit and real will to cooperate
with authorities to maintain social stability and peace, which are the
genuine aspirations of the Cambodian people," he said in a letter.

The
country held a general election on July 28. Initial election results
showed that the ruling CPP of Prime Minister Hun Sen won the election
with 68 of the 123 parliamentary seats, while the CNRP of Sam Rainsy got
the remaining 55 seats.

But the CNRP rejected the results,
saying that it should win 63 seats, with the CPP getting the remaining
60 seats if alleged poll irregularities were fairly resolved.

Tep
Nytha, secretary general of the National Election Committee, said there
was no need to discuss the formation of any independent committee since
the initial election results had been already released and the final
results would be issued on Sept. 8.

The opposition party has repeatedly threatened to call mass protests against the poll results.

Deputy
Prime Minister and Interior Minister Sar Kheng wrote a letter to Sam
Rainsy on Aug. 8, saying that peaceful demonstrations are the rights of
people, but protesters and their leaders must comply with the
regulations of the Law on Peaceful Demonstrations.

"In case that a
protest has led to violence, destruction to national security, and
damage to public or private properties, the protest leaders and
offenders must take full responsibilities in front of the law for
consequences arising from the protest," he warned.

Soldiers,
police and military police with armored vehicles have been deployed
around Phnom Penh City since early this month after the opposition's
protest warning.

Under the country's constitution, a new parliament will be inaugurated no later than 60 days after the election.

Prime
Minister Hun Sen said on Aug. 2 that a new parliament and a new
government would be established as scheduled despite the opposition's
boycott.

According to the constitution, he said, a new government
would be formed by a 50 percent plus one majority, or 63 lawmakers, in
the new parliament.

Hun Sen, 61, who has been in power for 28 years, will extend his power for further five years through the election victory.

Tuesday, August 27, 2013

Siam Cement Group on Monday said it would
invest 12.4 billion baht (US$386 million) for its first integrated
greenfield cement plant in Myanmar to serve the rising demand in that
market.

Kan Trakulhoon, president and chief executive of SCG, said the board of
directors approved the investment to construct its first fully
integrated cement plant in Myanmar under that country's Foreign
Investment Law.

Construction is expected to begin by mid-2016. The cement plant, with
annual output capacity of 1.8 million tonnes, will be strategically
located in Mawlamyine, where there is a long-term supply of limestone
complemented by access by boat to Yangon, Myanmar's primary commercial
hub.

The plant will include a 40-megawatt power plant with the latest clean
technology for internal power consumption, supporting port facilities,
and other infrastructure for future expansion.

"SCG has solidified its position as one of Myanmar's market leaders in
terms of dependable product attributes, brand exposure, supply-chain
efficiency, and depth of distribution channels," Kan said. "The Myanmar
cement market was estimated at approximately 4 million tonnes in fiscal
year 2012, and is forecast to grow annually at 10 per cent over the next
five years."

In fiscal 2012, SCG exported about 1.7 million tonnes of cement to Myanmar.

Kan said this project was a major investment to support growth of the
cement-building-materials business in Myanmar and elsewhere in Asean
after recent announcements that it would construct cement plants in
Indonesia and Cambodia. It is in accordance with the company's strategy
to become a sustainable business leader in Asean.

With a majority stake in the Myanmar plant, SCG says it places
importance on sustainable development. That includes the 40MW power
plant, a 9MW waste-heat generator system for reduced electrical usage,
supporting port facilities, and other basic infrastructure.

SCG's stock price yesterday closed at Bt410, down by 0.97 per cent from last Friday.

Bualuang Securities yesterday noted in research that the cement,
petrochemicals and building-material businesses would strengthen SCG's
growth in the next few years.

The growth of its cement business will be driven by rising sales revenue
backed by new investment and the increasing demand in Myanmar, Cambodia
and Indonesia.

Bualuang said the two new cement plants in Indonesia and Cambodia would
be able to operate commercially in 2015 and the one in Myanmar in 2016.

For its building-materials business, SCG will focus more on mergers and acquisitions.

Source: RFA
A top court ordered Cambodia's electoral body on Monday to unseal
voting records in a second province as the main opposition party held a
20,000-strong rally with an ultimatum to the government to set up an
independent probe on widespread irregularities in recently-held national
elections of face a larger demonstration.

In an urgent statement, the Constitutional Council of Cambodia
ordered the National Election Committee (NEC) to open packages with
secured ballot information in Battambang province “in order to verify
votes and vote-counting records.”

Last week, the Council, which is the final arbiter of the election
results, had ordered packages with key voting data to be unsealed for
Kratie province following claims by the opposition Cambodia National
Rescue Party (CNRP) of massive election irregularities, including one
million voters delisted from the electoral rolls.
In a stunning development, an RFA Khmer Service reporter who
witnessed the opening of the Kratie packages at the weekend noticed that
they had already been unsealed, raising concerns among election
watchdog groups of vote tampering.

Some of them have accused the NEC, which oversees the country’s
polls, of being a tool of the government after it announced preliminary
results awarding a victory to Prime Minister Hun Sen’s ruling Cambodian
People Party (CPP) despite complaints of irregularities.

Freedom Park rally
At Monday’s rally, CNRP President Sam Rainsy accused the NEC of stealing votes from the opposition and giving them to the CPP.

"The NEC stole our votes for the CPP and now they claim they want to find the thief," he said.
Prompting cheers from the crowd, Sam Rainsy and his deputy Kem Sokha
said that if an independent committee to investigate irregularities is
not established before the NEC announces official results of the polls,
the CNRP will lead much larger mass demonstrations.

"The voters have voted and demanded changes and when we want change,
we want to change the top leader first," Sam Rainsy said, amid chants of
“change” from the crowd.

Sam Rainsy said the planned demonstrations would be staged in the
tradition of Indian civil disobedience leader Mahatma Gandhi’s
non-violence movement.

Observers said that the CNRP gathering in Freedom Park in Phnom Penh
on Monday was meant as a test of the party’s supporters before the
planned larger mass demonstrations.

Following criticism that voting records had been mishandled, the
Constitutional Council court ordered the NEC to open original ballot
records from eight polling stations in Battambang city on Wednesday.
“The opening of those packages must be done at the Council of
Ministers on August 28 at 8 a.m.,” and the court will monitor the
process, the Council statement said.

Kek Galabru, founder of local rights group Licadho, said
irregularities in security packages in Kratie province have raised
concerns over similar problems in other provinces.

“If we see places where there are more irregularities that might have
affected the allocation of seats in the National Assembly, there should
be reelections in those places,” she said.

The NEC’s preliminary findings supported the CPP’s claims that it won
68 parliamentary seats to the CNRP’s 55. The CNRP claims it won at
least 63 seats in the National Assembly.

DVDs distributed
Meanwhile at the Ministry of the Interior, officials released a DVD
that it said was aimed at documenting for foreign diplomats and
nongovernmental organizations an alleged move by Sam Rainsy to overthrow
the government by calling for mass protests .

Ministry of the Interior spokesman Khieu Sopheak said the DVDs,
titled “Documents Related to Holding Massive Demonstrations for Social
Change,” were aimed at revealing the “bad intentions” behind Sam
Rainsy’s calls for mass demonstrations.

“It shows [leaders of the opposition party] campaigning to ask people
to hold demonstrations to topple the government in 2013,” he said.

He added that the government will fulfill its duty to protect the country if any mass demonstration turned into riots.

Hun Sen had warned previously of protests by his CPP to counter any
mass opposition demonstrations and had deployed troops, tanks and
armored vehicles in the capital to boster security which the opposition
said was a move to intimidate the people.

Kratie security packages
Sam Rainsy said any failure by the NEC to open the packages of
further original ballot records would also prompt mass demonstrations.

At Sunday’s hearing when NEC officials opened the Kratie security
packages—which contain original vote counts from polling stations in the
province on voting day—10 out of 13 were found to have been unsealed.
They were opened in front of reporters, opposition officials, and representatives from the Constitutional Council.

NEC Secretary General Tep Nytha said the irregularity might have
occurred due to lack of employees’ proper training resulting from budget
constraints.

CNRP lawmaker Kuy Bunrouen claimed that the original ballot records
in the packages were at odds with preliminary results released by the
NEC.

He said they included invalid ballots that are missing from the packages and lower vote tallies for small opposition parties.

The Constitutional Council is still reviewing the complaint about the Kratie irregularities, along with others filed to the NEC.

Xinhua | 2013-8-27
Cambodian Prime
Minister Hun Sen said Tuesday that the country wanted more Malaysian
investors in its agricultural sector, particularly the rice industry.

Speaking in a meeting with Tun Mohd Khalil bin Yaakob, governor of
Malaysian state of Melaka, at the capital's Peace Palace, the premier
said that the Cambodian economy was projected to grow by 7. 6 percent
this year.

He asked Khalil to help encourage Malaysian investors to Cambodia,
especially to make investment in rice mills in order to process
Cambodian rice for export.

Khalil promised with the premier to help attract investors to
Cambodia. He said his visit to Cambodia was to explore possibilities to
further develop tourism sector between the two countries.

Meanwhile, he also hailed Cambodia for rapidly social and economic development under Hun Sen's leadership.
Cambodia and Malaysia, both members of the Association of Southeast
Asian Nations (ASEAN), have developed ties well in politics, economics,
trade and tourism.

Malaysia is the third largest investor in Cambodia. According to the
Council for the Development of Cambodia, from 1994 to the end of last
year, Malaysian investment in Cambodia had reached 2. 62 billion U.S.
dollars.

The bilateral trade was valued at 376 million U.S. dollars last year, up 17 percent year on year.

On tourism side, the country has greeted 60,650 Malaysian visitors in
the first six months of this year, up 13 percent compared with the same
period last year, according to the latest tourism data.

Monday, August 26, 2013

8/26/2013

Unravelling the links Tamils had with China in ancient times could
soon be a reality as the Archaeological Survey of India has said it is
willing to lend its expertise to that country if a request is made
through appropriate government channels.

"We would love to research the link of Tamils with China. However, we
can do this only if a request comes through appropriate authorities
like the External Affairs Ministry," ASI Additional Director General B R
Mani told PTI.

There have been reports of Hindu temples in China and its links with South India and Tamil traders dating to the 13th century.

Historians believe the Chedian shrine may have been a network of more
than 12 Hindu temples or shrines, including two grand big temples built
in Quanzhou and surrounding villages by Tamil traders who lived here
during the Song (960-1279) and Yuan (1279-1368) dynasties.

Quanzhou Maritime Museum vice curator Wang Liming had said China
would welcome any help from Indian scholars "as this is something we
need to study together."

While stating that ASI would like to research links of Tamils with
China, Mani said expeditions of Indians to far away places had always
been a subject of interest and pointed out that Sindhi traders had built
the Baku Fire Temple in Azerbaijan centuries ago.

"Not only in Azerbaijan, but in several other countries like
Cambodia, Vietnam, Laos and Jawa, many structures have been built by
various Indians in different times," he noted.

Asked to shed more light on the Tamil link to ancient China, noted
archaeologist and historian S Ramachandran said the Tamils shared a very
long history with the dragon nation.

"The Thirukaneeswaram inscriptions belonging to the 14th century
speaks of a Shiva temple near the Canton port area in China," he said,
adding the inscription was documented by T N Subramaniam in the South
Indian Temple Inscriptions series published by Government Oriental
Manuscripts Library in 1957.

After a series of closed door discussions and
numerous rephrasing by policymakers including foreign experts, Myanmar
has finally picked the theme "Moving forward in unity towards a peaceful
and prosperous Community" for its engagement with Asean next year. Like
previous Asean chairs, the title reflects Naypyidaw's agenda and
priorities when it takes up the grouping's chairmanship in 127 days.

The 10-word slogan, the longest ever in Asean history, was personally
given a nod by President Thein Sein recently. Earlier a few versions
were put forward for consideration focusing on the centrality of Asean,
economic cooperation and community building as well as political and
economic reforms taking place in the past two years. The chosen theme
was a neutral and encompassing. "It is very comprehensive," said a
senior Asean official, who attended the Asean Economic Ministerial
meeting in Bandar Seri Begawan, where Myanmar made the official
announcement.

After the Asean leaders endorsed the 2014 chair in November 2011,
Myanmar has studied the themes and performances of each Asean chair
since 2008 when the Asean Charter was adopted. That year, Singapore
chaired Asean with an impressive theme "One Asean at the Heart of
Dynamic Asia," echoing the island's desire to increase the grouping's
profile beyond Southeast Asia.

Thailand succeeded Singapore with a major task to implement the new
charter. Bangkok was true to its slogan, "Asean Charter for Asean
People," with packed programmes of civil society groups' participation,
which scared a few Asean leaders away. Then came Vietnam with a simple
theme: "Towards the Asean Community: From Vision to Action." It did not
take long for the chair to find out that spurning common actions among
the Asean members were an uphill task.

Indonesia took over Vietnam's chair with a shoo-in goal, "Asean
Community in a Global Community of Nations." As the only Asean member in
the G20, Indonesia wanted to be the Asean voice among the world's most
economically advanced countries. Asean's position was uplifted. But it
was temporary.

Last year, Cambodia's messianic theme of "One Community, One Destiny"
had the opposite effect. As the last country to join Asean in 1999, the
practice of Asean Way had yet to sink-in. But Cambodia should be
credited for narrowing development gaps among the old and new Asean
members but very few people took notice.

"Our People, Our Future Together" is the current theme advocated by the
chair, Brunei. True to form and substance, every move the chair
initiated is based on consultations and consensus. The remaining four
months would be smooth paving the way for a conservative but holistic
approach by the next Asean chair.

Myanmar has good reasons to be cautious with the role. First, Naypyidaw
will serve as the chair for the first time--16 years after its
admission. It skipped the 2005 slot due to domestic crisis along with
pressure from the Asean colleagues. It does not want to adopt an
"overtly" forwarding looking tone as it could sound a bit patronising.
Second, the theme must be tropical enough to reflect norms and values as
well as the inspiration of Asean and its peoples. In this case, Myanmar
had to forego the so-called non-Asean elements related to their
reforms. Finally, it must also resonate well with the situation at home.

The chair's domestic condition would certainly dominate the next year's
Asean agenda, especially the situation in Rakhline State and the fate of
Rohinya people. Malaysia, Indonesia and Brunei would raise the issue.
This time the chair cannot get away scot free. Myanmar turned down the
planned Asean special meeting on in October to discuss Rohinya issue,
which was later cancelled. Concerned Asean countries affected by the
influx of Rohinya prefer a regional solution.

Much is at stake for Myanmar especially its manner in handing sensitive
issue with transnational and international impacts. It will serve as a
barometer of the depth and scope of the ongoing three-year reforms. As a
late comer, Myanmar is learning from the Asean experience. After
Indonesia turned democratic in 1998, a few years later the country
opened up and discussed internal problems with Asean. At the recent
Asean annual meeting, Jakarta reported voluntarily on its human rights
condition to the Asean Intergovernmental Commission for Human Rights.

Myanmar was relieved after the deadline for the Asean Community was
postponed to Dec 31, 2015. That means the chair has an additional year
to prepare grounds for the AEC realisation. As the theme suggested,
Myanmar now is confident that it can be a catalyst for the strengthening
of community-building in Asean.

Speaking to reporters after the launch of Maybank IB's fifth branch
at Mutiara Damansara, he said: "We are still doing preliminary studies
on these two markets. As they are frontier markets, we are definitely
growing organically."

Maybank 12 branches in Cambodia and one branch in Laos.

Tengku Zafrul also launched its Powerbroking and M2U Mobile Apps on the Android platform.
Equities regional head managing director Ami Moris expected 25% to 30% revenue growth from its online and mobile contributions.

As stocks and currencies slide, “I don’t know” if the
businesses will cover costs associated with the acquisition,
Chief Executive Officer Nazir Razak said in an interview with
Bloomberg TV’s Haslinda Amin yesterday.

CIMB bought most of RBS’s Asia-Pacific cash equities and
investment banking units last year for 88.4 million pounds ($138
million) to extend its regional reach. The Malaysian lender and
larger rival Malayan Banking Bhd. (MAY) have been expanding abroad as
the Association of Southeast Asian Nations further opens the
region’s markets to create an economic zone modeled after the
European Union by 2015.

“Investment banking business is a function of markets,”
said Nazir, speaking in Singapore. “If the markets are
effectively much slower than what we forecast, it might not meet
the original target.”

The MSCI Asia Pacific Index fell 0.8 percent yesterday,
extending its six-day slump to 4.7 percent as the prospect of
reduced U.S. monetary stimulus and Asia’s faltering growth
outlook fueled a sell-off. The Philippine Stock Exchange Index
tumbled 6 percent, the most in two months, as trading resumed
after a three-day closure. Indonesia’s (JCI) benchmark fell 1.1
percent, dropping 20 percent from a record three months ago.

Currency Slide

Thailand’s baht and the Malaysian ringgit slumped to three-year lows against the dollar yesterday and the Indonesian rupiah
sank to the lowest since 2009.

“Currencies have depreciated significantly, interest rates
are about to rise, and where borrowers and companies haven’t
quite factored this situation in or didn’t quite believe it
would come so soon, some would have to feel some pain,” the
bank’s chief executive said.

Investment banking contributes 5 percent of CIMB’s annual
profits and any delay in breaking even on the RBS acquisition is
“not going to rock the boat,” said Nazir, the younger brother
of Malaysia’s Prime Minister Najib Razak.

Shares of CIMB fell 0.1 percent at 7.57 ringgit in Kuala
Lumpur as of 12:25 p.m. today, compared with a 0.4 percent gain
for the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI Index. The stock has
declined 0.9 percent this year.

Southeast Asia

On June 10, CIMB said it won approval from Bursa Malaysia
Securities Bhd. to sell shares on the Stock Exchange of
Thailand. Subsidiary CIMB Thai Bank Pcl (CIMBT), which has 150 branches
in the country is “very small,” Nazir said.

“Banking is a business of size” and the listing will
allow customers to perceive CIMB as “a much bigger bank” in
the country, he said.

In other Southeast Asian countries such as Cambodia and
Vietnam, the bank will seek to start fresh operations, he said.

In the Philippines, where CIMB in June had to scrap a plan
to buy 60 percent of Bank of Commerce from San Miguel and other
shareholders for 12.2 billion pesos ($276 million), it will
pursue acquisitions. “We will revisit Philippines and try and
find other opportunities,” said Nazir.

CIMB’s April 2012 purchase included RBS’s cash equities
units in Australia, China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, the U.S. and the
U.K., and equity capital markets and mergers and acquisitions
divisions in Australia, China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Malaysia,
Singapore, Taiwan and Thailand.

CIMB retained more than half of the 600 staff employed by
RBS in the region, Nazir said in an interview in June 2012.

The 16 economic ministers of Asean+6 have
agreed to finalise the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership by
2015, when the Asean Economic Community takes full effect.

"The ministers agreed that this free-trade agreement should be a single
schedule of commitment that should not be separately negotiated by some
countries," Thai Commerce Minister Niwatthumrong Boonsongpaisan said
yesterday.

The ministers from 16 countries joined their first ministerial meeting
and the 45th Asean Economic Ministers Meeting in Brunei this week.

The RCEP will become the largest free-trade area with 3.35 billion
people, or more than half of the world population. Its gross domestic
product would be US$17.1 trillion, or 27 per cent of global GDP.
Combined trade is worth $740 billion, he said.

The RCEP comprises the 10 Asean nations and China, South Korea, Japan, India, Australia and New Zealand.

The second round of RCEP negotiations by officials is set for September 23-27 in Brisbane, Australia.

During the AEM meeting in Brunei, Asean member states also agreed to
encourage each country to cut at least one non-tariff barrier a year.

Malaysia and Indonesia were urged to reduce their high duties on
alcoholic beverages by 2015. If both countries do not want to cut import
tariffs, they should at least lower excise taxes to show their
sincerity in dismantling trade barriers.

Vietnam and Cambodia have been called on to minimise duties on petrochemical products.

Asean countries have been advised to accelerate integration plans for
the AEC. The ministers also agreed to the 10th pact of service business
liberalisation among Asean members.

The deeply flawed July 28 general election in Cambodia attracted
scant international attention. This is in sharp contrast to 1993, when
the United Nations Transitional Authority in Cambodia (UNTAC), with a
$1.5 billion budget, administered the first election carried out by a UN
agency following the 1948 UN-supervised Constitutional Assembly
election in South Korea.

UNTAC was established by the 1991 Paris Peace Agreements. It was
created as part of the “survivors' guilt” over the failure of the
international community to intervene to prevent the genocide carried out
by the Khmer Rouge. The “killing fields” period, in which up to two
million Cambodians perished, stood as a stark reminder of the failure of
the UN and other international organizations to prevent mass murder
even after the Holocaust. UNTAC was established to restore the
credibility of the international community by transforming a Cambodia
emerging from civil war, genocide and foreign invasion into a model for
democracy and human rights—and to allow a graceful UN exit from the
country. Two decades later, as witnessed on July 28th, the world appears
to little remember or even care about the pledge to restore and
revitalize Cambodia.
One of the great historic ironies is that, despite these
international efforts, a former Khmer Rouge cadre, Hun Sen, now sits at
the center of power in Phnom Penh. A member of the group of henchmen
responsible for the greatest genocide in post-World War II history
continues to unilaterally call the shots on the political future of
Cambodia. This is a country which, with its demographics of an extremely
young population and its location at the heart of the dynamic Asian
“economic miracle,” could have the potential for fulfilling all the
promise of UNTAC's previous efforts.

Instead, a dark shadow again extends over Cambodia. International
press reported on August 9 the movement of armored vehicles and troops
into the vicinity of the capital of Phnom Penh, due to reports of
planned opposition protests over the election results. The domestic
crisis deepened on August 17 when the country’s National Election
Committee (NEC) rejected the opposition complaints regarding voting
irregularities, stating that "many of them didn't warrant further
investigation." The results, reporting that Hun Sen’s ruling party, the
Cambodian People’s Party (CPP), had taken 48.79% of the vote in the July
28 poll and had won 68 out of 123 parliamentary seats, enough for a
parliamentary majority, still stand. The opposition Cambodia National
Rescue Party (CNRP) claims that, without the irregularities, it would
have won at least 63 seats, enough for its own parliamentary majority.
In frustration, its representatives walked out of their last meeting
with the NEC.

The final recourse lies with the Constitutional Council, which held a
meeting on August 20th to consider nineteen separate allegations of
election irregularities. The Council reportedly has seventy-two hours to
complete its investigation. Only time will tell whether a last-minute
agreement, reached by the ruling and opposition parties in the National
Assembly, to jointly investigate allegations of voting irregularities
will have any bearing on the Constitutional Council's final ruling on
the matter. Win or lose, the strong opposition showing in the elections
was a slap in the face to strongman Hun Sen. He is used to having his
way during twenty-eight years of continual rule and does not hesitate to
use strong-arm tactics when necessary. The ruling party decision to
join the opposition in an investigation, therefore, could prove little
more than a gambit by the Hun Sen faction to buy time to allow popular
furor over the discredited election results to die down.
The opposition remains ready to take to the streets if the current
impasse is not resolved in what is popularly perceived as an equitable
manner. The American Embassy in Phnom Penh responded to the ongoing
impasse by publicly stating that "we still say that an investigation
into irregularities needs to happen. The outcome of these electoral
disputes needs to be something that Cambodian people as a whole will be
happy with."
Reports of voting irregularities on July 28 include the removal of
eligible voters from the voting lists, the inclusion of multiple names
on some voting lists, and indications that some pro-Cambodian People's
Party (the ruling party) voters were allowed to cast their ballots
multiple times. State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki had commented on
these reports on July 29, noting
that "we call for a transparent and full investigation of all credible
reports of irregularities. We urge all parties and their supporters to
continue to act in an orderly and peaceful manner in the post-election
period."

Sam Rainsy, head of the opposition CNRP, has called for a return of a
United Nations role to address election issues as UNTAC once did.
Rainsy returned to Cambodia just prior to the July elections after
receiving a royal pardon from the king for his conviction on previous
trumped-up charges. His name did not, however, appear on the voter rolls
and he was not eligible for candidacy in the elections. Rainsy, in an
August 5 letterto
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, stated that “under the terms of the
Paris Peace Agreements ... both the UN and the Kingdom of Cambodia have a
legal obligation to ensure that our country’s ‘liberal and pluralist
democracy’ be grounded in ‘free and fair elections’...“We believe that
numerous irregularities in electoral processes produced an outcome that
does not properly reflect the will of the people.”

It should provide the United Nations little comfort that, after all
the time and treasure expended on creating “a liberal and pluralist
democracy” in Cambodia that the country will likely remain, as cited
above, in the hands of an infamous former Khmer Rouge cadre. Hun Sen
carries a permanent physical reminder of his Khmer Rouge ties in the
form of a glass eye, the result of a wound
he sustained while participating in the Khmer Rouge's final assault on
Phnom Penh in 1975. Hun Sen broke with the Khmer Rouge not out of any
moral conviction but because, as Battalion Commander in the country's
eastern region, near the Vietnamese border, he was targeted in a 1977
party purge as an underperformer. He fled
with his battalion to the rival Vietnamese before he too could become a
victim of the killing fields. He returned to Cambodia in 1979 with the
invading Vietnamese army. On that occasion, Prince Norodom Sihanouk
famously referred to him as “a lackey” of the Vietnamese.

Hun Sen might have abandoned his Khmer Rouge colleagues, but he did
not put aside their murderous tactics. In 1987 Amnesty International called
his regime to account for the torture of thousands of political
prisoners using "electric shocks, hot irons and near-suffocation with
plastic bags.” He defiantly refused to honor the 1993 UNTAC-sponsored
election results, refusing to step down from the post of prime minister
but instead brokering a deal that left him in place as “second prime
minister” to Prince Ranariddh's “first prime minister.” By 1998 he had
managed to push Ranariddh aside and resume his position as sole prime
minister.

Extra-judicial killing of those who represent an inconvenience to the
regime is the modus operandi in Hun Sen's Cambodia. In April 2012
environmental activist Chut Wutty
was shot dead by a military-police officer while investigating illegal
logging in western Cambodia in the vicinity of a Chinese hydropower
construction site. His murder was still the talk of the town when I
visited Phnom Penh last summer. More recently, in April of this year, Houn Bunnith,
a staffer with the legal-aid NGO International Bridges to Justice (IBJ)
was shot in the neck and killed by a military-police officer in Kandal
province.

This is all a far cry from the Cambodia envisioned by the United
Nations and the international community at the time of the supervised
elections two decades ago. The question now is this: what will be the
international response to the recent flawed elections and the continued,
extensive human-rights abuses in a land that already suffered so much
at the bloody hands of the Khmer Rouge?

Dennis P. Halpin was the Cambodia analyst in the Department of State's Bureau of Intelligence and Research from 1985 to 1987.

Hun Sen still stays out of the action, reports Asia Sentinel’s James Pringle
China appeared Wednesday to endorse the Cambodian People’s Party’s
narrow July 28 election victory, while at the same time calling for a
swift resolution to the country’s perilous political situation, which
has raised the real possibility of violence in the streets.

Ending a situation where he had vanished from the political scene for
almost three weeks and become a virtual recluse, Prime Minister Hun Sen
was on hand to welcome Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi after the
election produced a 68-55 seat victory for the CPP, representing Hun
Sen’s largest fall in support since UN-supervised elections in 1993.

Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen. Pic: AP.

Diplomats said that Wang, in background talks with Hun Sen, probably
warned his Cambodian ally of the dangers ahead, with an opposition rally
scheduled for next Monday by the Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP)
of former French banker Sam Rainsy. Sam Rainsy was permitted to return
to Cambodia from exile just 10 days before the election, although he was
not allowed to stand for office.

The Chinese, though they are close allies and backers of the
seemingly endlessly-lasting Cambodian regime, usually take a pragmatic
view of politics and are doubtless alive to the dangers. That’s why it
took almost three weeks for Wang to actually come here.

Military officials said Wednesday if violence were to occur at the
forthcoming rally, fire trucks and thousands of military police and
civilian police would be on hand, “and we are ready to crack down if any
violence occurs.”

Cambodia’s long-ruling leader has spent significant time off the
radar, and people wondered what he was doing. After all, the 61 year old
strongman, who has been in power for 28 years, is a man who was seldom
more than a day out of being the cynosure of all eyes. But he has
remained a virtual recluse, surrounded by bodyguards in his mansion-like
residence in downtown Phnom Penh or in his nearby prime ministerial
offices.

The statue of the sleeping Buddha at Phnom Kulen, Cambodia. - Photo from Wiki Commons

A new archaeological project in Cambodia has revealed a vast ancient city around Angkor Wat that is exciting the archaeological world and has captured travellers’ imaginations.

IT’S 7am at Angkor Wat and there’s not a tourist in sight. It’s blissfully quiet, the first clear June morning after two days of torrential rains. The only souls around are a small group of Buddhist pilgrims, lighting incense at the rear of the spectacular Khmer temple.

I’m not here for sightseeing, however, I’m heading further into the forest surrounding the stupendous temple complex with Australian archaeologist Dr Damian Evans to meet the archaeologists from Cambodia, the Philippines and the United States, who are working on new excavations.

The release in June by the US National Academy of Sciences of a report on the results of a high-tech survey of Khmer Empire sites, undertaken in April 2012, has rocked the archaeological world and captured travellers’ imaginations.

A monumental, sophisticated, densely populated urban landscape, which dates back more than 700 years, has been identified. It includes and connects Angkor cities such as Angkor Wat, Angkor Thom and Bayon, with the rarely visited medieval city ruins of Phnom Kulen, Beng Mealea and Koh Ker, over 100km away.

Evans was one of the report authors and the lead archaeologist and director of the project, which only became known outside local and archaeological circles with the release of the report this month.

As we make our way through dense vegetation, he explains how eight key archaeological groups, including the Cambodian government’s Apsara Authority, which manages archaeological sites, collaborated on the project. It began with the survey using an airborne laser scanning instrument called Lidar, strapped to a helicopter, to search for ruins and other structures (the size of the area covered by the helicopter doing the survey was 320 sq km). Developed in the 1990s, it’s only recently that the technology has matured to the level where it can penetrate dense vegetation and provide extremely detailed models of the forest floor.

“For archaeologists, these lumps and bumps that we see in the forest, each has a meaning,” Evans explains, pointing out gentle mounds. “These are all the traces of the civilisation of the city associated with Angkor Wat that has disappeared. It’s these contours that we study.”

Smoke wafts from the fires lit to keep mosquitoes at bay. Dotted between the mounds are several rectangular holes in the ground where Dr Miriam Stark from the University of Hawaii and her team are at work.

“We’re really interested in understanding residence patterns, where and how people lived and who they were,” Stark explains excitedly, showing me X-ray-like images of the area we’re in. “Before, it took more than three intensive weeks of (preparation) before we knew where to dig. Now, with Lidar, it’s as if you just peel a layer off and it’s there!”

Scholars have based their idea of all medieval cities around the world on European cities, explains Professor Roland Fletcher, director of the Greater Angkor Project. But now, it seems there was a colossal low-density urban sprawl here, a conurbation of different places with massive working citadels with enormous infrastructure.

“This is a highly managed system, the most extensive pre-industrial city in the world,” he says, though referring to its complexity rather than its size. “The Lidar results show there were three cities [here] at the end of the 9th Century – the largest was on top of Mount Kulen, creating an (equivalent to) industrial 19th-Century Britain.”

The city is so enormous it is unlikely to ever exist as one excavated site, but tourism here is likely to increase. There’s talk of a cutting-edge museum presenting the exciting new discoveries, new archaeological sites in the future, and greater interest in little-visited outlying temples already accessible to the public.

We decide to head to one of these Phnom Kulen, a site rarely visited by tourists, with just a few companies offering expeditions and treks there.

“Phnom Kulen is a sacred mountain,” Tat, our guide from Backyard Travel tells us en route. His ancestors called this place Mahendraparvata, or the Mountain of Indra, King of the Gods. “We call it the Mountain of the Lychees now. Look, you can see it here,” he says, pointing to a long, low, flat plateau that barely rises above the palms, banana plants and rubber trees that skirt the road.

Mahendraparvata was never really “lost” – the mountain has long been known as the location of the sandstone quarries that built Angkor’s cities, as well as the source of water for a complex system that irrigated the vast empire.

When we visit, people are wading in the River of A Thousand Lingas, a section of the stream boasting stone carvings on its floor. Villagers frequently stumble across finds, recently some bronze, copper and sandstone statues of Hindu gods. But the Lidar survey confirmed that Mahendraparvata was part of a city, and much larger than suspected – maybe as big as present-day Phnom Penh.

We leave our air-conditioned four-wheel drive behind and soon we’re bouncing along muddy tracks on the back of motorbikes behind guides familiar with the landmine-riddled mountainside, that was the last stronghold of the Khmer Rouge.

They lead us towards the summit. It’s a slow journey, over narrow, bumpy dirt trails – only the most intrepid travellers come here. Scattered across the mountain are ruined, foliage-covered temples, ancient highway markers and, at Sras Damrei or Elephant Pond, massive statues of an elephant and lions. The thought that more sites like this could soon be discovered is thrilling.

Back in Siem Reap we take to the air in a helicopter to get a better idea of what this urban landscape might have looked like. Had I taken the flight two weeks’ ago, I would have gasped at the magnificence of the isolated temple structures with their imposing walls and moats.

Now, I see patterns of bumps and lines on the vast floodplain as beautiful remnants of an immense, effervescent city that technology and archaeology are finally bringing to life.

While many believe this site will become one of Asia’s greatest wonders, and tourism bodies are eager to see excavations progress quickly and more archaeological sites opened up to visitors, the extraordinary size of the area means work will be costly and take years.

In the meantime, however, the intrepid can play at being Indiana Jones at undeveloped sites on Phnom Kulen, and temple cities such as Beng Mealea and Koh Ker – and let their imaginations run wild.

Hun Sen said that Cambodia and China are close neighbors, with a high degree of mutual trust. This year marks the 55th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relationship between Cambodia and China and for the "Cambodia-China Year of Friendship". The two sides should take this opportunity to deepen mutual trust and cooperate more closely with each other to bring the bilateral comprehensive strategic partnership up to a new high. Hun Sen as well briefed Wang Yi the latest development of domestic situation in Cambodia. He stressed that the Cambodian People's Party is willing to smoothly go through the post-general-election transitional period and form a new Congress and Government through friendly consultations as soon as possible, abide by the constitution and the laws.

Wang Yi said, Cambodia recently finished the general election smoothly, and the preliminary results showed that the People's Party got a majority in the Congress. The Chinese leaders sent out at the first minute the congratulations to the People's Party.

In recent years, under the leadership of the Prime Minister Hun Sen, Cambodia is committed to maintaining social stability, promoting economic development and improving people's livelihood, and has made great achievements in various fields. China and Cambodia are good neighbours, good friends, good partners and brothers. The most important characteristics of China-Cambodia relationship are mutual understanding, mutual trust and mutual support, especially at crucial moments. My visit this time is to carry forward all these good traditions.

The Chinese government under the new leadership attaches great importance to relations with Cambodia. We will unswervingly develop friendship with Cambodia, and deepen the comprehensive strategic partnership. We will support Cambodia ruling out external interference to pursue a development path in line with its own national conditions and the interest of the people. We will provide firm support to the Cambodian government for the efforts to safeguard stability, to develop economy and to improve the livelihood of the people.

Wang Yi said, as a good friend of Cambodia, we hope and believe that all political parties of Cambodia will give priority to national stability, unity and the people's interest, resolve differences through negotiation and start a new session of Congress and the Government as soon as possible.

Monday, August 19, 2013

Some 231,000 Chinese visited Cambodia in the first six months of the
year, up 55 percent compared with 149,000 over the same period last
year, a report of Cambodia's Tourism Ministry showed Monday.

China is the third largest tourist source to Cambodia after Vietnam and South Korea, the report said.
Kong Sopheareak, chief of the statistics and planning department of
the Tourism Ministry, attributed the remarkable growth to direct flight connection, attractive Cambodian tourism sites, and friendly relationships between the two countries.

"Close relationships between the Cambodian government and the Chinese
government have encouraged more Chinese tourists, investors and
businesspeople to Cambodia," he told Xinhua over telephone on Monday.

The Southeast Asian nation received 334,000 Chinese visitors in 2012, up 35 percent year-on-year.
In June, the Tourism Ministry unveiled its five-year strategic plan to attract at least 1.3 million Chinese visitors by 2018.

Under the plan, the country would prepare entry-exit application forms and announcements at airports in Chinese language, write signs on main roads in Chinese, conduct studies to establish China Towns and train more Chinese speaking tour guides.

Tourism Minister Thong Khon said it was vital
to encourage owners of hotels, restaurants and tourism resorts to use
three languages, Khmer, English and Chinese, on billboards, or
promotional leaflets or brochures.
"Chinese are rich now, more and more Chinese visit abroad," he said. "Cambodia and China have had very good diplomatic ties, which are favorable for us to attract more Chinese to Cambodia."

Tourism is one of the major sectors supporting the Cambodian economy.
Last year, the country received 3.58 million foreign tourists, up 24
percent year-on-year, and generated a total revenue of about 2.2 billion U.S. dollars, or 12 percent of the gross domestic product (GDP). said the Tourism Ministry.

The country is a destination for ecological and cultural tourism, and
is well-known for its 12th century Angkor Wat Temple, a world heritage
site, and the 11th century Preah Vihear Temple, another world heritage
site.

Besides, it has a pristine
coastline stretching in the length of 450 kilometers in four provinces
of Koh Kong, Preah Sihanouk, Kampot and Kep. The coastline was
recognized as one of the world's most beautiful bays in May, 2011.

Wednesday, August 7, 2013

WASHINGTON, Aug. 7 -- The U.S. Agency for International
Development-Cambodia has announced that it expects to award a maximum of
three discretionary cooperative agreement grants to enhance the skills
of village health support groups, strengthen their technical linkages to
health centers and institutionalize them under local government
structures for long-term sustainability.

The award ceiling for this funding opportunity is $15 million.

This funding opportunity is open to Cambodian nongovernmental organizations.

A funding opportunity notice from the USAID-Cambodia states: "The
Goal of the updated USAID/Cambodia draft Country Development Cooperation
Strategy is 'Cambodia's transformation to a healthy, prosperous,
democratic country accelerated.' Three Development Objectives (DOs) are
defined to help achieve this Goal: DO1: Stable democratization that
promotes accountable governance and the rights of the people. This
project will promote community awareness of rights related to health
care and health care financing, and seek to increase local government
accountability in ensuring those rights are respected; DO2: Delivery of
health services strengthened for improved health status of vulnerable
populations, within which there are 3 Intermediate Results (IR) all of
which this project directly addresses: i. Quality of maternal and child
health (including RH/FP, WASH and Nutrition) services in communities and
facilities improved in a sustainable manner ii. Capacity and
accountability of the health care delivery system strengthened; and iii.
Effectiveness and efficiency of infectious disease control programs
improved; and DO3: Poverty reduced in selected geographic areas and
targeted populations. This Project will support the poverty reduction
aims of the Health Equity Fund (HEF) by improving the transparency and
accountability of beneficiary targeting, in close collaboration with a
separate USAID Social Health Protection (SHP) Project."

by Phillina Sun
The child of Cambodian parents fleeing Pol
Pot’s regime, Phillina Sun says her parents’ cultural dislocation was
eased by the welcome they found in the US. In a response to assumptions
about refugees, she offers a personal account of the ones she knows best
– her mother and father.

TODAY I THOUGHT of my parents after reading about a legal challenge
to the policy of direct provision here in Ireland. In the past, I have
always been baffled by some Irish comments concerning “asylum-seekers”.
There is an antipathy to refugees here, a way of framing them that
discounts their experiences and dismisses them as “benefits-seekers” and
“job-takers”.

This negative attitude toward refugees in everyday Ireland is, I
think, reflected and/or influenced by the detention and exclusion of
refugees. So, today, I felt compelled to list some observations of the
refugees I know best, because I want to consider the trajectory of their
lives, and the possible life-trajectories of other people like them.

A semblance of the middle-class American dream

In the mid-1970s, my parents arrived in the US as refugees from
Cambodia, with assistance from the government and Christian groups.
With advice and loans from kin, they were able to start a doughnut shop
in San Diego, where mom worked long hours every day of the week while
dad worked in electronics in another city. After they sold the doughnut
shop, mom took a night course and became an assembler of robots. Dad
works at home, selling secondhand computer parts via the internet.

Through hard work, adaptation, and years of separation and
heartbreak, my parents achieved a certain, albeit precarious, semblance
of the middle-class American dream: the two-story house in a nice
neighbourhood, a good education for the kids, second helpings at dinner,
US bus tours for vacation, and life insurance as a psychological
bulwark against the uncertainty of their children’s futures.

Culturally, my parents travel between worlds

Physically, my parents live in San Diego. Culturally, they travel
between worlds. They raised my brother and I, US citizens by birth, as
Americans, even as my parents were not comfortable with what being
“American” might mean. What is “American” but a mix of improvised signs
and gestures? Mom watches soaps both American and Cambodian, and dad is
an avid viewer of Chargers football games and Khmer karaoke videos.
(Dad also listens to Spanish radio, which is telling of our proximity in
San Diego, geographically and culturally, to Mexico). Mom and dad are
comfortable in their improvised world of computer flea markets,
Khmer-language Christian meetings, Hawaiian buffets, and seaside
festivals.

Although my parents miss the Cambodia of their youth, they return
only for brief trips, typified by family reunions and melancholy tours
of a countryside forever altered by the depredations of frontier
capitalism and de facto dictatorship. Not that they haven’t encountered
hardships and hostility in the US. Although their refugee past is not
so urgent a memory for them, my parents are aware that, as immigrants,
they are sometimes viewed as newcomers, no matter how long they’ve lived
in the US. There’s always a chance that someone might come up to them
and yell, as in the past, “Go back to China!” Belonging, for my parents,
is always contingent.

The state is no substitute for society

Nevertheless, my parents have the life they’ve improvised due to
their initial treatment in the US by certain parties who welcomed them.
This care was encouraged, in part, by media attention on the plight of
Cambodians during the Pol Pot years, which elicited the Christian aid
that helped my parents and, with their kinship networks, enabled them to
emerge from the limbo of refugee status. (How, I wonder, would their
treatment differ now, in post-9/11 America, where that welcome is being
retracted in a heightened anti-immigration culture?)

In Ireland, there is scant welcome for the refugees of the 21st
century. The refugee or “applicant” is an “asylum-seeker” first, before
s/he is a refugee, preempting the realities implied by the statement “I
am a refugee”, realities which would otherwise require address. “Asylum”
suggests the space and time of safety; the asylum-seeker is caught in
an unsafe space and time. Direct provision further delays empathy by
segregating the individual into grim, for-profit centres where all
aspects of life are fully regimented by the state.

The state is no substitute for society, for the possibilities of
community. With his or her life so completely circumscribed via direct
provision, the individual has no or little cultural or social capital,
consigned as an invisible non-person to a legal and existential
purgatory.

What I know about my parents’ time as refugees is little, garnered
from anecdotes, legal documents, and a couple of pictures, of children
holding hands in a Thai refugee camp. They tell me bit by bit, and I
piece their histories together, knowing that these accounts are not
exact; some things are deliberately left forgotten. The limbo of the
refugee camps was short, alluded to by a couple of photos buried in a
box beneath other photos – of my brother and I as children, of visiting
family, of trips to the sea – visual markers of survival and resilience
in the aftermath of that refugee past.

I offer this account of the refugees I know best as a response to
presuppositions about refugees and as a consideration of possible
refugee trajectories. This is not to suggest that every refugee, once
welcomed, will eventually become a “model citizen”. Complicated and
messy, lives will not fit into neat, pre-set molds – nor should they.
But every human being deserves recognition of his or her rights and
care, regardless of their circumstances and no matter where he or she is
in the world. With the pain of dislocation eased by their welcome, my
parents could move beyond the trauma of that moment, free to improvise
home and belonging.

07 August 2013

PHNOM PENH: Malaysian companies have been urged to venture into
Cambodia's agriculture sector especially in paddy planting and opening
up rubber estates.

In making the call, Raja Saiful Ridzuan, Deputy Chief of Mission at the
Malaysian Embassy here, said Malaysian firms, with its vast expertise
in agriculture sector, could come in to tap the opportunities available
in this Indo-Chinese nation.

"Cambodia is a booming economy and it offers abundant opportunities for development particularly in the agriculture sector.

"They have plenty of land and manpower but not so much technological
know-how and expertise that are crucial to develop and modernise the
sector further.

"Only one Malaysian company is involved in the agricultural field in
Cambodia, while Padiberas Nasional Bhd (Bernas) is currently conducting a
feasibility study in this country," he told Bernama, here.
Cambodia is the world's fifth largest rice exporter.

Raja Saiful said other sectors that Malaysian companies could consider venturing into were construction and urban development.

He said the embassy was prepared to provide information and assistance
on local regulations to any Malaysian firm keen to set up businesses in
Cambodia.

"The business fraternity in Cambodia is a very close-knit one. The
Malaysia Business Council in Cambodia is also ready to offer advice and
services on the setting up of business ventures here," he said.
Currently, there are about 95 Malaysian companies operating in
Cambodia, the majority of them are in banking, tourism and trading.

Trade volume between both countries hit RM1.6 billion last year, a three-fold increase over the 2010 figures.
Malaysia's main exports to Cambodia are electrical and mechanical parts
and components as well as industrial raw materials while Cambodia's
exports to Malaysia are mainly rice and rubber. -- BERNAMA

Tuesday, August 6, 2013

(Reuters) - The result remains hotly disputed, but Cambodia's recent
general election has put long-serving Prime Minister Hun Sen on a
collision course with a resurgent opposition and revealed widespread
unhappiness with his iron-fisted rule.

While analysts aren't writing
off the chances of the politically ruthless Hun Sen ruling for another
five years, they said the result signals a restive and youthful
Cambodian population eager for change.

Both Hun Sen's Cambodian People's Party (CPP)
and the opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP) have claimed
victory in the July 28 poll. The official result will not be announced
until Thursday, at the earliest.

CNRP
president and long-time opposition leader Sam Rainsy declared himself
prime minister on Monday and called for a mass demonstration in Phnom
Penh on Tuesday that could augur months of political deadlock and
possibly violent protests.

Information
Minister Khieu Kanharith said the CPP won 68 seats, while the CNRP won
55. The CNRP says it won 63 and the CPP 60. It also claimed 1.3 million
names were missing from electoral rolls and that Hun Sen's party stuffed
ballot boxes with illegal votes.

Even
by Hun Sen's own count, the election represents a dismal performance by
an Asian strongman viewed during the campaign as all but invincible.

Many
Cambodians feel CPP policies have enriched a select few and created a
yawning poverty gap, analysts say. Huge tracts of land have been granted
to foreign companies while the poor fight eviction with little hope of
justice from the police or courts.

CPP
policies are "out of step with a more and more open society", said
independent social analyst Kem Ley, adding Hun Sen's control of the
media was less effective now many that many people get information from
internet social media outlets.

Kem
Ley believes a CNRP boycott of parliament could lead to mass protests
led by young Cambodians. "It's going to be like Egypt," he said.

Frustrations
also fester in the civil service, say analysts, where low-ranking
officials have watched their superiors grow rich while their own wages
have stagnated.

The CNRP's election promises included pay rises for civil servants and garment workers.

HUN SEN DEFIANTHun
Sen made conciliatory remarks after the election, saying his party was
ready to talk to the election commission and the opposition about
alleged irregularities.

He has
since reverted to a more familiar tone of defiance, warning that if the
opposition boycotts parliament its seats will be redistributed to other
political parties.

In a recent
speech he publicly scorned U.S. lawmakers for their pre-election threats
to cut financial assistance unless the election was deemed fair. "Don't
talk so much," he said. "If you want to cut, just cut it."He also suggested the generosity of China, Cambodia's biggest investor and close diplomatically, would compensate for any cut in $1 million of U.S. military aid.

But
Hun Sen's hailing of close ties with Beijing could backfire with many
Cambodians, who resent China's economic and political dominance of their
tiny country.

Hun Sen, 61, who
once vowed to stay in office until his mid-70s, will focus on retaining
power rather than addressing popular discontent, said analyst Kem Ley.

"There is no way (the CPP) will reform to gain popularity," he said.

But
CPP lawmaker Chheang Vun, who called the election result "a victory for
our people", acknowledged his party must pay greater heed to the youth.

"Their
thinking is not the same as the old people like us, so we must turn to
them ... and give young people what they want," he recently told
journalists.

"He has centralised all power and prevented his colleagues from proving themselves and rising to prominence," he said.

Hun
Sen has comfortably won every election since Cambodia returned to full
democracy in 1998 after decades of war and turmoil that included the
1975-79 "Killing Fields" rule of the Khmer Rouge.This
time, however, he faced formidable opposition from the CNRP, formed
after two parties merged last year and boosted by Sam Rainsy's return
from exile in July after a royal pardon removed the threat of a jail
term hanging over his head.

CNRP
allegations of election fraud are being investigated by the National
Election Committee, a government body viewed as dominated by the CPP.

"It
is inconceivable to me that Hun Sen would allow any investigation that
he couldn't control," said Carl Thayer, a Cambodia expert at the
Australian Defence Force Academy in Canberra. "This election result will
not be the end of Hun Sen for the next five years. But his pledge to
say in office until he is in his seventies looks shaky."

Speaking Freely is an Asia Times Online feature that allows guest writers to have their say. Please click hereif you are interested in contributing.

PHNOM PENH - The recently concluded general elections in Cambodia, won
narrowly by the ruling Cambodian People's Party (CPP), highlighted the
growing political role of social media. Throughout the election period,
Facebook users took to their smart phones and computers to share
information and on polling day report electoral irregularities.

Although the vast majority of Cambodians still live in the countryside, changes in technology and demography mean that more and more young people are joining social networking sites.
According to social media agency We Are Social, currently one new user
joins Facebook every two minutes in Cambodia, translating to an average
of 1,000 new members per day.

Social media users were among the 3.5 million 18- to 30-year-olds
registered to cast ballots in the July 28 elections for the National
Assembly. (Altogether there were 9.5 million registered voters). While
many youth voters expressed their discontent with the CPP by voting in
large numbers for the opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP),
they also rallied for political and social change online.

"Facebook was a great space for the public to air their concerns about
the elections, and it was one of the very few platforms with independent
information, because most media are controlled by the CPP and were
peddling pro-government news," said Un Samnang, a report writer at
election watchdog Comfrel.

Civil society organizations criticized the lack of independent media and
censorship measures introduced by authorities ahead of the elections.
Reporters Without Borders, a press freedom advocacy group, condemned a
government-imposed ban forbidding local radio stations from broadcasting
foreign media commentaries and opinion polls during the five days prior
to the elections and on the polling day.

"We strongly condemn the failure to rescind this directive, which
tramples on freedom of information. The authorities are clearly trying
to restrict voter access to radio programs that are outspoken and do not
toe the government line. Unobstructed access to independent news and
information is the cornerstone of any free election," the watchdog group
said in a statement.

Even though the ban did not apply to local media outlets, most radio
stations chose to self-censor their news during the week before the
election out of fears of losing their operating licenses, Comfrel's
Samnang said. He underlined that Facebook helped to fill the news void
by allowing people to keep each other abreast of new developments in the
days before the election.

When on election day a popular Facebook page "I Love Cambodia Hot News"
posted a video of a fight at a polling station after allegations of vote
rigging, it was almost immediately shared by 1,326 users and "liked" by
1,663.

Social media users also called on fellow Cambodians to return to polling
stations and observe the ballot count. According to a social media
specialist at the Cambodian Centre for Human Rights, Lach Vannak, young
voters posted photographs of their own ballot count and were fearless in
reporting irregularities.

"Seventy percent of all Cambodians are below the age of 35. Most of them
have no recollection of the horrors of the Khmer Rouge regime. They are
young and are not afraid to say what they think. Facebook became a
place where they share and discuss the latest news," Vannak said.

Both the CPP and CNRP tapped into social media, with the latter relying
more on the platform due to its restricted access to mainstream Khmer
media. Opposition leader Sam Rainsy used his Facebook page to reach out
to youth voters and to galvanize support for his party. Even the
announcement about his return from self-imposed exile a week before the
polls first appeared on a social networking site.

Using Facebook for political gains, however, does not come without a
cost. Vannak points out that now voters will follow-up on campaign
promises. "People begin recording what you promise and they will demand
that you follow through," he said. "So Facebook could play a role in
making the new government more transparent and accountable."

According to 26-year-old political science graduate Ou Ritthy this trend
goes beyond the elections. Ritthy, who is organizing informal
discussions about politics for youth in Phnom Penh, believes Facebook is
becoming a place for social justice and democracy debates and will
eventually lead to a change in political culture.

"We organize small meetings in real life, but the most significant
conversations take place on Facebook. I like to post controversial
statements and provoke an online discussion. Democracy was born out of
discussion," he said.

Ritthy thinks that young people using social media to talk about
politics and current affairs are the future of Cambodia. "They will be
our leaders. And I am not only talking about political leaders. One day,
they will be leaders of a family or a community."

AFP/Phnom Penh
Cambodia’s opposition leader Sam Rainsy yesterday called on the UN to
help resolve the country’s disputed election in order to protect “the
victory” of the people.

The nation has been stuck in a political impasse since Premier Hun
Sen’s long-ruling Cambodian People’s Party (CPP) claimed it had won last
month’s poll - one of the most hotly contested votes seen in the
country.
Rainsy, who returned from self-imposed exile to lead the opposition
after receiving a surprise pre-election royal pardon, has claimed his
Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP) actually won the July 28 poll.

“Tomorrow, we will hold a big rally... to demand the UN comes and
resolves the election problem in order to protect the victory of the
Cambodian people,” Rainsy told a small rally in the capital Phnom Penh.
The CPP said it had secured an estimated 68 of the 123 lower house seats, with CNRP taking 55.

But the result - marking the lowest support for Hun Sen’s party since
1998 - has been rejected by the opposition, who claim widespread voting
irregularities.

Rainsy has said his party won a majority of 63 seats and has vowed to prevent the CPP “stealing victory”.
The official result is not expected until later this month.

Rainsy’s CNRP on Saturday agreed to work with the CPP and the
National Election Committee to set up a joint committee to probe alleged
election fraud.

But Rainsy has since said his party will not be involved in the
process until the UN is allowed to referee the investigation, a level of
involvement rejected by the government and the NEC. They say the
international body can only act as an observer.

“We do not trust NEC at all. We will join the investigation only when the UN comes,” Rainsy told reporters.
On Friday, the UN said that disputes over the election must be
“adjudicated fairly” but added it had not yet been asked to join any
enquiry.

The US also urged a probe into alleged misconduct but said the opposition gains marked a positive step toward democracy.

Hun Sen - who has been in power for 28 years - has welcomed a probe
but has also vowed to establish a government under his leadership if the
opposition refuses to join parliament.

The 60-year-old former Khmer Rouge cadre, who defected from the murderous regime, has vowed to rule until he is 74.